Fantasy Fare: Post-Olympic letdowns

Ryan Getzlaf's post-Olympic production tailed off significantly four years ago. What happens this time around could be affected by how Canada does in the gold-medal game on Sunday against Sweden. (Al Charest/QMI Agency)

The break is over for National Hockey League poolies and the question now is: How will the two-week hiatus affect those Olympians returning from Sochi?

Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle went on record a couple of weeks ago as saying he felt the emotional letdown dropped on many of those players is no small deal and pointed to 2010, when he was coaching the Ducks, and his key skaters — notably Ryan Getzlaf — came up small over the NHL schedule’s final 20 or so games, costing them a playoff berth.

Of course, individuals will handle the transition back to the NHL grind in different ways but to see if this is, in fact, a legitimate concern, we sifted through the 2009-10 statistics before and after the Vancouver Olympics to measure the points-per-game production of most of the fantasy-worthy players involved in that tournament.